Elder Law

Hancock & Estabrook represents clients seeking advice on laws affecting the elderly. Our clients include individuals, married couples, families and persons under disabilities. We coordinate efforts with independent living, enriched living, assisted living and nursing facilities in connection with services from the Program For All Inclusive Care of the Elderly ("PACE").

We offer services in the following areas:

• Asset Protection
• Hospital Discharge Planning
• Nursing Home Admission Planning
• Home Care Planning
• Medicare
• Medicaid
• Social Security
• Supplemental Needs Trusts
• Guardianships under Article 81 of the Mental Health Hygiene Law
• Guardianships for Infants and Individuals under Disabilities pursuant to Article 17 and 17-A of the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act

Our attorneys work closely with the Department of Social Services to facilitate Medicaid applications and appeals. We recently served as co-counsel in VerDow v. Sutkowy, 209 FRD 309 (N.D.N.Y., 2000) where we successfully upheld the viability of income-only irrevocable trusts for asset preservation purposes.

We recently established the first "pooled Trust" in Central New York, a supplemental needs trust which allows income and resources in the Trust to be disregarded for Medicaid eligibility purposes.

We handle complex guardianship proceedings. We prepare wills, living wills, health care proxies, powers of attorney and revocable and irrevocable trusts.